Review of The Elements of Pizza by Ken Forkish

Ken
Forkish's new book, The Elements of Pizza, is the new definitive
book on the art of pizza. Following the wild success of his first
book, Flour Water Salt Yeast, the owner of three
Portland, Oregon eating establishments is sharing his secrets for
perfecting pizza. Based on his knowledge, you would assume Forkish
was a baker by birth, but that is not the case. After spending two
decades in the tech field, he left Silicon Valley, followed his
dream and moved to Oregon to bake.

In The Elements of Pizza: Unlocking the Secrets to World-Class
Pies at Home, Forkish concentrates on the fundamentals of pizza in
the first hundred pages before even hitting on the dough recipes.
The first five chapters are devoted to The Soul of Pizza, Pizza
Styles, Eight Details for Great Pizza Crust, Ingredients and
Equipment, and Methods. These chapters are necessary to provide a
full understanding of the bones of pizza making before undertaking
the recipes. Forkish includes many photographs that guide us
through stretching the dough, forming dough balls and more.

More than a dozen different types of dough are outlined from a
quick "I Slept In But I Want Pizza Tonight" Dough to the 48- to 72-
Hour New York Pizza Dough. A tutorial on wild yeast (levain)
culture is provided and seems to be similar to making your own
sourdough starter. Fermentation, shaping, refrigeration times are
given for each recipe as well as a "sample schedule". Forkish
outlines it all and makes it seem easy.

I challenged myself and made the 48 to 72 Hour New York Pizza
Dough. We're New Yorkers, or were, and good pizza is hard to find
here in Colorado. I make pizza frequently for my pizza loving
family but I have a confession to make - I'm not a fan. I will eat
a slice if I make it myself, but it's not my favorite choice for
lunch or dinner. While I love to cook and bake and do try to
challenge myself, I wasn't keen on starting a dough that would take
days. Really, does it make that much of a difference?

I have to admit, I haphazardly followed the procedure and I am a
convert. I bow to Forkish's methods because that dough was
spectacular. I had some pepperoni sauce that I made for a pasta
dish earlier in the week which I added to some sausage and
mozzarella cheese and easy peasy - New York style pizza. The reason
I mention haphazardly is to hit home the fact that the author's
instructions are so spot on and organized that I was successful
without total and complete concentration. The dough was easy to
work with and I was able to simply stretch it out and make the thin
crust that that my family loves.

The Elements of Pizza is for anyone who truly wishes to discover
and learn the art of making great pizza from scratch. There are
recipes for Meatballs, Vodka Sauce and Sausage Pizza, Oregon Basil
Pesto and Burrata Flatbread and more. However, the book's greatest
value is in the teaching of the basics for great crust that can
open a whole world of creativity for the cook.

Jenny Hartin is an enthusiastic
home cook who lives in Colorado, owns the website The Cookbook
Junkies and runs the Facebook group also called The Cookbook Junkies. The Facebook group
is a closed group of 30,000 cookbook fans - new members are
welcome.

48- to 72- Hour New York Pizza Dough

This dough uses a long refrigeration period - a standard
practice in good New York pizzerias (though it's rare in Naples).
The long, cold fermentation in the fridge lets flavors and mild
acidity build and allows the proteins in the dough to break down
just enough. This nets a more delicate and more flavorful pizza
crust.

Because the dough is not as actively fermented, the crust is not
as poofy-rimmed as a Neapolitan pizza; it's flatter. The toppings
also stay put close to the edge of the pizza rather than being
pushed toward the middle by the puffy rim.

New York pizzas usually bake at a lower temperature for many
minutes longer than Neapolitan pizzas do, resulting in more
moisture loss in the crust. This means a crisper pizza. When you
slice a pizza made with this dough, the tips of the slices won't
sag very much. For more detail on the relationship between oven
temperature and dough hydration, see page 52.

Because of the stiffer dough in this recipe, I recommend using a
stand mixer fitted with the dough hook rather than mixing it by
hand. It's just easier with a machine.

If you don't have a stand mixer but you do have a food
processor, you can use that with the metal blade to briefly mix the
dough (it works!). (While you're at it, put the plastic dough blade
in the recycling. Gluten develops best when it's cut, not torn by
blunt plastic.)

If you want to convert other pizza doughs in this book, such as
my Saturday Pizza Dough (page 108), to a New York-style dough,
substitute high-protein bread flour for 00 flour and use the same
amount of water in the dough as in this recipe.

1. Measure and Combine the Ingredients. Using your digital
scale, measure 320 grams of 90°F (32°C) water into the bowl of your
stand mixer. Measure 14 grams of fine sea salt, add it to the
water, and stir until it's dissolved. Measure 1.2 grams (1⁄4 plus
1⁄16 teaspoon) of instant dried yeast. Add the yeast to the water,
let it rest there for a minute to hydrate, then swish it around
until it's dissolved. Add 500 grams of high-protein bread flour to
the mixing bowl.

2. Mix the Dough. Using the dough hook, mix for about 90 seconds
on the slowest speed. Do not overmix or the dough will be too
elastic and tough once baked. The target dough temperature at the
end of the mix is 78° to 80°F (26° to 27°C). With a wet or floured
hand, remove the dough from the mixer, lifting it from the bottom
so you don't tear it. Place in a lightly oiled 6-quart dough tub
and cover it with a tight-fitting lid. Alternatively, use a food
processor fitted with the metal blade: add the ingredients in the
same order and pulse only until the dough has come together. Or you
can mix this dough by hand, with one adjustment: add 400 grams of
flour and mix until you have thoroughly integrated the flour and
water, then add the remaining 100 grams of flour in stages until
it's all blended in and no dry flour remains. Use the pincer method
(see page 86) to cut the dough in sections with your hand,
alternating with folding the dough to develop it into a unified
mass. It's a bit of work, but it's doable. Add a few drops of water
if you have to.

3. Rise. A rise of 2 hours after mixing the dough is all you
need for this recipe. The rest of the fermentation will happen in
the dough balls. This dough will expand about 40 to 50 percent of
its original volume in this 2-hour period.

4. Shape. After the first rise, divide the dough and shape it
into balls. Moderately flour a work surface about 2 feet wide. With
floured hands, gently ease the dough out of the tub. With your
hands still floured, pick up the dough and ease it back down onto
the work surface in a somewhat even shape. Dust the entire top of
the dough with flour, then cut it into 3 equal-sized pieces. Shape
each piece of dough into a medium-tight round following the
instructions on pages 88 to 91, working gently and being careful
not to tear the dough.

5. Second Fermentation. Put the dough balls on one or two
lightly floured dinner plates, leaving space between them to allow
for expansion. Lightly flour the tops, cover with plastic wrap,
then put them into the refrigerator. These dough balls will hold
for up to 3 days in the refrigerator. They should be best at 2
days.

6. Make Pizza. Give your dough balls 90 minutes or so out of the
refrigerator before making pizza to let their gluten relax.

Special thanks to 10 Speed Press for sharing Forkish's
recipe for the 48- to 72- Hour New York Pizza Dough recipe with Eat
Your Books' members.